Top pianists Katherine Austin and Maria Mo to play in Thames

Katherine Austin and Maria Mo. Photos / Supplied

Internationally acclaimed pianists will perform a Sunday afternoon concert in Thames this weekend where they will play duets from the works of Mozart and other well known composers of classical piano music.

Katherine Austin and Maria Mo will play at the Thames Music Group event at St George's Church this Sunday.

Katherine Austin is head of piano studies for the University of Waikato Conservatorium of Music. One of New Zealand's leading pianists, she performs regularly around the country and overseas, touring frequently for Chamber Music New Zealand, and broadcasting regularly on Radio New Zealand Concert.

Her work with the New Zealand Chamber Soloists now occupies a large portion of her performing and concert life, with regular tours to Europe, UK, Asia, North and South America, and Australia, and invitations to give masterclasses in such institutions as the Yong Siew Toh Academy of Music (Singapore), the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Yehudi Menuhin School (UK), the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), Monash University (Melbourne) and the Vicenza Conservatory of Music (Italy).

Her CDs include Corybas – the complete chamber works of John Psathas for piano with strings (three of the five works were written for Katherine Austin and her musical partners); Ahi - with works by NZ composers Farr, Lodge, Williams, Griffiths and Psathas; and Elegy – moving elegiac piano trios by Rachmaninov, Babajanian and Shostakovich, which received international acclaim.

Katherine Austin and Maria Mo. Photos / Supplied

Katherine Austin has also released two CDs on the Atoll label, one with great Russian Sonatas for Cello and Piano, the other Diable Vert, performing virtuoso and romantic duo works, with international cello sensation Santiago Canon Valencia, also to critical acclaim.

Maria Mo has performed in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and across Europe as both solo recitalist and chamber musician.

She has toured as concerto soloist with Opus Chamber Orchestra, the Trust Waikato Symphony Orchestra, and the Auckland Youth Orchestra.

In 2009, she was the winner of the Royal OverSeas League Arts/Pettman International Scholarship for a New Zealand Chamber Ensemble as pianist for the Leonari trio, which led to an eight-week concert tour and study trip of the United Kingdom in 2010, playing prestigious venues and festivals such as St Martin-in-thefields and Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The trio also toured with Chamber Music Zealand in 2012 to critical acclaim. In December 2018, Maria had the honour of being selected to perform for South Korean President Moon Jae-In on his inaugural trip to New Zealand.

Maria studied with Katherine Austin as a Sir Edmund Hillary Music Scholar at the University of Waikato where she received the Hillary Medal and the Lili Kraus Piano Award, and graduated with a Master of Music with First Class Honours in 2009.

In 2013 she graduated with Excellence under Professor Doris Adam at the Vienna Conservatory, and received further training from Professor Christopher Hinterhuber at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She returned to her alma mater at the University of Waikato to commence a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Katherine Austin in 2018.

•Sunday, 2pm St George's Church, $20 or TMG members $15.